Different
by ladybug114
Summary: "He's only ten years old when he finds out that he's different." In which Danny knows about the supernatural world because he's a part of it. Danny-centric, with some Danny/Ethan


**A/N: Have another one-shot! I have a ton of them saved on my computer right now, so I'm just gonna keep posting them. This was inspired by the 3b finale when Danny admits to Ethan that he knows about werewolves... It got me thinking- what if Danny knows about the supernatural because he IS supernatural? This was the result. Enjoy!**

He's only ten years old when he finds out that he's "different." It runs in the family, his mom says, and started with her grandmother. It's not a bad thing, she tells him, it just makes him special.

Danny thinks it just makes him weird.

In the months after that, his mom and dad teach him a lot about the world he never even knew existed. Of people who are just like him and his mom, and of people who can do different things. All of them with special gifts.

Danny thinks it sounds wonderful, and wants to meet some of these other people, but then his mom's face grows more serious.

She tells them of other people, men and women who think that "different" and "special" are bad. People who don't think that Danny and his mom should exist. She warns him that no one must ever know about his abilities, that he needs to keep them secret no matter what.

So Danny, with the help of his parents, learns control at only eleven.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

When he's twelve and realizes that he likes boys instead of girls, Danny doesn't think much of it. It's just something else that makes him different, and something that he doesn't have to hide.

He tells his parents, and they just smile and tell him that they're glad he figured that out about himself.

He keeps training with his mom, learning more about his abilities and the other people with them, but he still keeps them a secret, if only because she makes him.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

The day after his thirteenth birthday, Danny's mom dies in a car crash. He never talks about it, never says that maybe she could have saved herself.

She tells him that she loves him, and tells him to stay safe.

After that, Danny doesn't want to use his abilities anymore.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

When he gets to high school, Danny realizes that Beacon Hills is a weirder town than he thought. He's friends with Jackson Whittemore, which is a bit of a miracle itself. But he starts to notice that a few of his classmates are like him-different. He never says anything to them, and never gets any proof of his suspicions, but he can tell.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Next thing he knows, freshman year is over, and he's not the youngest in the school anymore.

Out of the entire new class of students, two catch Danny's eye immediately-Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski. Both "different," but not in the same way he is. Some people think they must be gay for each other, but Danny knows they're not.

At least not yet.

He doesn't know why he finds himself watching those two, when they're not even like him, but he has a feeling about them anyway. So he just watches.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Junior year, he's still trying to figure out why Scott and Stiles seem so important.

Until the day Scott comes into school changed.

Danny knows immediately, knows that Scott is different too now. He's not sure at first exactly what Scott is, but he's definitely something. Danny thinks about talking to the sophomore about it, but he remembers his mother's last words and stays quiet.

He keeps his eye on Scott though, and Stiles too, just in case.

Scott seems to take care of himself pretty well, though, so Danny just pretends he doesn't know, like he always has.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

When it happens to Jackson, it's harder to stay quiet.

He knows that Jackson is different. Really different. And he knows that he could help, but he doesn't want to say anything.

He can't say anything.

And then Jackson tries to kill him, and Danny freaks a little. Internally, of course, since he still can't say anything. He would, try to help Jackson, but every time he thinks about it, his mother's words echo in his head.

So he keeps quiet, as always, and everything ends up working out, as always.

Jackson moves to London, and Danny stays in Beacon Hills, hiding the fact that he's different, still watching Scott and Stiles.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

And then Ethan shows up. Ethan, who is kind and interesting and HOT.

And different.

Not different like him, but different like Scott. Danny thinks that Ethan and Aiden and Scott are all the same, and Derek too.

And for a while, Danny is afraid that Ethan is only interested in him because they're both different. But he never mentions it, and Danny doesn't either, so he thinks maybe they actually have something.

And then people start dying, being sacrificed, and Ethan might be part of it.

And Danny thinks that maybe he should do something, say something, but he doesn't. He just watches, waiting for everything to go up hell.

And it does... But it doesn't. Because suddenly the killings stop, and Ethan is still spending time with him, and actually acting civil towards Scott and Stiles for once.

So Danny gets the guy, and he doesn't even have to disobey his mom to do it.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Then he's a senior, and things get bad again.

He knows immediately that something is wrong with Stiles, maybe something worse than they've ever faced before. Because Scott's best friend isn't just different, he's bad. Evil, maybe. And he's not just like Ethan and Aiden, who did bad things but had goodness inside them.

No, Danny is sure that there is no longer any goodness inside Stiles.

And maybe he should say something, but Scott has always taken care of things in the past, and he knows Stiles so well... Danny figures that Scott already knows.

He almost says something after the killings at the hospital, and again after Allison dies (which he still can't believe actually happened), but then Stiles comes back into school and he's normal again.

Well, normal for Stiles at least.

Once again, crisis averted, and Danny still doesn't say a thing.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

When Ethan tells him that he's leaving, it's not a surprise. He heard about Aiden's death (another death that he maybe could have prevented, but he tries not to think about), and expected that Ethan wouldn't stay long. So since it's his last chance to say something to the boy he loved for a while, Danny does something he never thought he'd do.

He tells Ethan that he knows.

He plays it off as no big deal, and doesn't say that he's different too, but Danny knows that it's still a big step.

And after Ethan is gone, Danny thinks about talking to Scott, maybe telling him the whole truth.

But then his dad tells him that Beacon Hills is getting too dangerous for them (as if it hasn't been dangerous for Danny's entire time in high school), and just like that, they leave town. No time to explain it to anyone, no time to talk to Scott, they just leave.

And when Danny moves away from Beacon Hills, he realizes for the first time how different he really is. Because he never sees someone like him again. He goes to college, gets a job in computer programming, meets a guy, and lives the rest of his life without ever telling anyone who he really is.

Sometimes, late at night, Danny wonders what his life might have been like if he had spoken up all those years ago in high school, wonders if he could have made a difference just by saying something.

But he never did, and he never does.

 **A/N: Please review, and feel free to suggest ideas for other one-shots!**


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